Pepper-spraying campus police won't face charges

Source: Associated Press

DAVIS, Calif. (AP) — The University of California, Davis police officers who doused students and alumni with pepper spray during a campus protest last November won't face criminal charges, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The chemical crackdown prompted widespread condemnation, campus protests and calls for the resignation of Chancellor Linda Katehi after videos shot by witnesses were widely played online. Images of an officer casually spraying orange pepper-spray in the faces of nonviolent protesters became a rallying point for the Occupy Wall Street movement.

But the Yolo County District Attorney's office said in a statement that there was insufficient evidence to prove the use of force was illegal.

A task force appointed by the university concluded in April that the Nov. 18 pepper-spraying was "objectively unreasonable" and could have been prevented.

6. Silly commoner!

7. The official press release:

(Woodland, CA) No criminal charges will be filed against University of California, Davis officers involved in the November 18, 2011, pepper spraying of students on the University Quad. A 13 page District Attorney report outlines the reasons for the determination.

The report concludes “viewing the incident through the totality of the circumstances, there is insufficient evidence to establish proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the use of force involved in the November 18, 2011, pepper spraying was unlawful and therefore warrants the filing of criminal charges.”

The report defines the legal role of a prosecutor in investigating officer involved misconduct, “The review by Yolo County District Attorney’s Office does not involve an evaluation of administrative, civil or Internal Affairs liability for the participants and it does not involve a review of whether policies and procedures were appropriately followed. In addition, our review does not encompass recommendations concerning how policies and procedures might be altered to minimize potential future risks. The scope of the District Attorney’s review is solely an evaluation of whether the filing of criminal charges is warranted by the events of November 18, 2011.”

The report relies heavily on the factual determinations of the Kroll Report and cites numerous facts and evidence contained within the Kroll Report. Although the Kroll Report concluded that the conduct of Lieutenant Pike was not objectively reasonable, the report acknowledges that the officers in general, “and Lieutenant Pike specifically, believed that they and their prisoners were surrounded by a hostile ‘mob,’ and that the pepper spraying was necessary to clear the pathway so that the officers and their prisoners could leave the Quad safely” and that “a detailed review of the events provides some support for their position.” The District Attorney’s report concludes that in light of these conclusions from the Kroll Report and the additional evidence obtained during the District Attorney’s review of the evidence that there is insufficient evidence to warrant the filing of criminal charges.

12. Unreal

This is just more ass covering for the militarized police.
Prosecutors will go after OWS protesters for the flimsiest shit and make up charges, but the thugs that beat the crap out of them walk scott free.